The invention relates to the production of wood fibres for use in the construction of all-weather horse riding surfaces.
As is well known, the characteristics of conventional horse riding surfaces, such as turf and sand, vary according to the weather conditions. Also such surfaces are liable to serious damage, rendering them temporarily unusable, under extremes of weather conditions such as severe frost. To overcome these disadvantages it has been proposed to construct an all-weather riding surface from a thick layer of wood fragments, since such a surface is less susceptible to variations in weather conditions. Generally such riding surfaces have been formed from mixed wood residues from timber processing plants and have comprised a mixture of wood shavings, chippings, fibres and sawdust in variable proportions. It has been found, however, that an improved and more consistent surface may be provided by forming the surface from a more consistent mixture of wood fibres, and the present invention provides a method and apparatus for forming wood fibres in a mixture having desirable characteristics for use as a riding surface.